Muslim women respond to ‘disheartening’ hijab poll

Muslim women have spoken about how wearing the hijab is “empowering” in the face of a new poll that has revealed almost half of Britons believe that women are pressured into putting it on.

- TARA COBHAM TOOBA KHOKHAR

The survey found 49 per cent of the British public believe Muslim women wear the hijab due to family or community pressure, while just a quarter (26 per cent) see the decision as a personal choice.

The new YouGov survey - which was commissioned by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and involved polling 2,130 UK adults earlier this month - comes as more than 20,000 Muslim women gather at the country’s biggest Muslim convention, Jalsa Salana UK.

Dr Munazzah Chou, 40, one of the over 6,000 female volunteers at Jalsa Salana helping to run a tent city on 210 acres of Hampshire farmland, told The Independent she started wearing the hijab at the age of 16. “There are many choices we make every day,” she said. “I have made the choice to wear the hijab, as an expression of my religious beliefs.”

Her words were echoed by Dr Maleeha Mansur, who felt the hijab was “empowering”.